FRITZ NEIGHBOR
SPORTS EDITOR
Fritz Neighbor is the Sports Editor for the Daily Inter Lake. He oversees sports coverage across the Flathead Valley, including high school athletics, youth sports, and regional competitions. In his leadership role, he helps shape the newspaper’s sports coverage and editorial direction. Fritz’s column, Full Count, taps into his decades’ long career covering Montana sports. You’ll also see Fritz sharing his thoughts and insights on the Big Sky Now podcast.
IMPACT: Fritz’s work celebrates the athletes and teams that bring Northwest Montana communities together.
Recent Stories
Polson, Bigfork hunt title berths
Polson and Bigfork, schools (and combatants in the near future) that sit 35 miles apart on the shores of Flathead Lake, are back in the semifinals for high school football.
Bigfork Vikings trio can air it out
A couple years ago you could count on Bigfork’s football team to run nine times out of every 10 plays, and if it seemed predictable, the Vikings still cranked out seven yards a carry and made the playoffs.
Polson spikers win 2nd straight divisional title
Turns out Polson isn’t just a football town, because the Pirates volleyball team is 16-2 and owner of back-to-back Western A championships.
Big Sky Notebook: Bobcats making a habit of tight wins
The Montana State Bobcats are 8-1, ranked third in the Football Championship Division and if all their wins aren’t of the blowout variety, they’re still wins.
Saturdays are for football — and Stevenson
If Cy Stevenson was an unknown quantity outside Lincoln County in 2020, it wasn’t really his fault.
Ostmo, Griz overpower Cal Poly
October is over and the Montana Grizzlies came to play. The Griz wouldn’t necessarily make that connection, but Saturday was a welcome tonic: Nick Ostmo ran for a career-high 221 yards and two touchdowns as Montana crushed Cal Poly 57-0 at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
AA playoffs: Glacier prepares for Bozeman
Friday’s football game between the host Bozeman Hawks and Glacier Wolfpack picks up a rivalry that went on hiatus more than four years ago.
Pack, Bravettes ready for divisional volleyball
Glacier would like to at least hold serve at this weekend’s Western AA Divisional volleyball tournament, which starts today in Missoula. Flathead would like to do a little more.
Big Sky Notebook: Grizzlies aim for happier November
A frightening October — as in, this squad is in danger of missing the playoffs — is over for the Montana Grizzlies, and a common refrain from coaches is to be playing your best football in November.
Class A football: C-Falls makes short work of Cowboys
One year after a 21-20 loss to these same Miles City Cowboys on this same field, the Columbia Falls Wildcats came out ruthless Saturday.
AA football: Pack ousts Billings Senior
The Billings Senior Broncs brought a stingy defense into Legends Stadium Friday, and behind four sacks kept the Glacier Wolfpack in range after one half of play. Then the third quarter began.
AA football: Glacier looks to bust Broncs again
A couple more of these meetings and we’ll have a rivalry. Billings Senior and Glacier are squaring off for the third straight year in the Class AA football playoffs, and for the second straight time in a first-round (play-in) game. The Wolfpack and Broncs kickoff at 7 p.m. inside Legends Stadium.
Hensley hauls the rock
Glacier’s Jackson Hensley (2) is averaging 6.1 yards a carry this season, his first at running back.
Glacier’s Jackson Hensley (2) is averaging 6.1 yards a carry this season, his first at running back.
Big Sky notebook: Special teams giveth...
Special teams loomed large over the Big Sky Conference’s marquee games this past Saturday, making a difference in both Montana State’s win over Weber State, and Montana’s loss.
State XC: Flathead girls, others hunting for trophies
The Montana State Cross Country Championships are Saturday at the University of Montana Golf Course, and fittingly the Flathead Valley’s fastest girl will get things started.
Big Sky downs Flathead 53-20
Plenty of things went right for Missoula Big Sky and the other way for Flathead Thursday night, but the key stretch came in the second quarter of what was a tie football game.
Thursday Night Lights: Flathead looks to end on upswing; Glacier faces Missoula Hellgate on road
Flathead broke a 17-game losing streak to start the football season; now it can end on a winning note.
Big Sky notes: Perhaps we should have known
While the Montana State Bobcats were taking care of business this past Saturday, the Montana Grizzlies were falling flat in their lone October home game.
Wolfpack beats Flathead 4-0, moves into AA boys quarterfinals
Glacier’s boys went into their AA soccer play-off game minus a key player Tuesday, but still had the firepower, and the magic number, to beat crosstown rival Flathead 4-0 at Legends Stadium.
Vandals knock off Griz, reclaim Stein
Certainly a majority of the Idaho Vandals weren’t born when their football program last claimed the Little Brown Stein.
Glacier tops Flathead in crosstown football, 49-14
The Crosstown football game went Glacier’s way again Friday, mainly because Gage Sliter packed an entire game into one half.
The Snow Belt: A league whose time has come
Andrew Schmidt, the one-time starting running back for the 2008 Montana Grizzlies, has been telling anyone within earshot that Griz football should be moving on up.
Prep football: Flathead, Glacier ready to battle in crosstown
The Glacier Wolfpack and Flathead Braves are coming off their best football games in a while, so the head coaches are looking forward to Friday at Legends Stadium.
Heir Unapparent
Glacier needed a QB, and Gage Sliter made sure it was him
If you asked Glacier football coach Grady Bennett in 2019 who would be leading not only his team at quarterback but the entire state in passing, he might have guessed anyone but Gage Sliter.
Big Sky notes: In a QB-rich league, watch for Idaho’s No. 4
Montana Grizzlies quarterback Lucas Johnson has been reminding Big Sky Conference fans why he started at San Diego State.
Wolfpack pounds out win over Butte
Butte had a measure of momentum Friday night at Legends Stadium, owning both a 27-14 lead over the Glacier Wolfpack and the ball with two minutes left in the first half.
AA football: Games keep getting bigger for Glacier
The Glacier Wolfpack knew it was going through the tough part of the schedule before playing one-score games with Missoula Sentinel, Helena Capital and Helena High.
2 hours away, the Greatest Show on Turf
The obvious question for Noah Fincher is if she wore pink cleats to match the shoes she’s worn the last couple basketball seasons.
Fynn Ridgeway is literally running things for the Whitefish Bulldogs
Brett Bollweg had big shoes to fill when he took over the Whitefish Bulldogs football team, but any first-year head coach would benefit from having a three-year starter at quarterback.
Big Sky notes: Chambers shines in first start for Cats
It likely raised eyebrows when Sean Chambers transferred to Montana State from Wyoming, where he had played quite a bit and where second-year Bobcat coach Brent Vigen had been offensive coordinator.
Wild win: Pirates rally past C-Falls
Before the dust settled, Polson scored two touchdowns 33 seconds apart in the fourth quarter to push past the Wildcats 32-31 in a big Western A game.
Flathead spikers sweep Wolfpack in crosstown
The Flathead Bravettes were more than ready for Crosstown, Act 1. With Sienna Sterck knocking down 10 kills and playing excellent all-around, the Bravettes swept the first intracity volleyball match of the year from Glacier Thursday at the Flathead gym.
Friday prep football: Glacier draws potent Bengals
Flathead takes off to play Sentinel; big Western A showdown in C-Falls
The Glacier Wolfpack knew this part of its football schedule was going to be tough, but this is getting ridiculous.
Polson, Whitefish among boys favorites at State A golf
Whitefish has grabbed headlines the last couple years after trading boys golf State A titles with always-strong Laurel.
Whitefish golfer Billy Smith wants a high finish for himself, Bulldogs
Second-year Whitefish golf coach Tait Rocksund looks at Billy Smith and sees a rock solid shot-maker, with a mental makeup beyond his 18 years.
Big Sky notes: Mismatched series has odd history
The Idaho State Bengals are 0-4 under first-year coach Charlie Rangle, who made a name for himself mainly at Chapparal High School in Phoenix before taking over.
Griz special again in win over Vikings
The tackle that gave Robby Hauck the career record for the Montana Grizzlies was applauded loudly Saturday from 26,087 fans at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.
Grizzlies, Bobcats capsules for Sept. 24
Portland St. at No. 2 Montana When: Saturday, 2 p.m.; TV — KPAX; Web — ESPN+; Radio — Grizzly Radio Network. Where: Washington-Grizzly Stadium (25,217, FieldTurf)
Flathead hosts Hellgate in battle of 1-3 teams
Glacier on road to face 4-0 Helena Capital
The Flathead football squad returns to Legends Stadium Friday, glad to be off the road and hopeful about a game against another 1-3 team, the Missoula Hellgate Knights.
Triple threat: Polson’s football opponents have to deal with a dynamic passing attack led by senior Jarrett Wilson
The Polson football Pirates are 4-0 this year, have won 14 of their last 15 games and a lot of it is due to a trio that came along 18 years ago: Colter, Jarrett and Trent Wilson.
AA football: Sentinel survives Wolfpack charge
There’s a little pressure that goes with winning streaks and Missoula Sentinel’s football team has a long one — 25 games and counting, after a 38-31 victory Friday night. Glacier High added some pressure of its own.
Pack, Spartans get early marquee matchup
Things have quickly gotten serious for the Glacier Wolfpack football team, which battles fellow unbeaten Missoula Sentinel tonight at 7, inside Legends Stadium.
Pre-hyphen, he was the speedy tackle
Before he was Jim Smithwick-Hann, he was just Jim Hann, a quick tight end who in 1971 caught two passes for 10 yards for the Montana Football Grizzlies. In 1972, he was an even quicker right tackle.
Flathead looks to bounce back against Helena Capital
Coming off a landmark victory, the Flathead football team got brought back to earth last Friday with a 38-0 loss at Gallatin.
Wolfpack gridders head to MCPS on short rest
On the heels of a walkover-turned-nail-biter, the Glacier Wolfpack football squad has a short week and a game at Missoula Big Sky to contend with.
Special teams roar again for Griz
The Montana Grizzlies won the turnover battle 5-0 Saturday, rushed for over 200 yards, got 10 tackles from Marcus Welnel and got a sack and interception from Patrick O’Connell.
Big Sky Conference football starts flying Saturday
The Big Sky Conference season is upon us, with four games happening Thursday night, and while one important question has been answered — Marcus Welnel is No. 37 for the Griz — others remain.
Vals add kick to Valley soccer
Park Schara has an interesting soccer background, starting with a youth career spent alongside brothers O’Brien and Brenden Byrd in Columbia Falls.
Area harriers hitting stride
The cross country season is already underway for a majority of northwest Montana high schools, and it was an encouraging start for the Flathead and Columbia Falls teams.
Griz 2-deep has Johnson as QB, Rohrbach as punter
After a nothing burger of a Monday press conference, things became clearer for the Montana Football Grizzlies Tuesday with the release of their two-deep roster.